GEN-I representatives travel to Iran with government economic delegation

25. November 2016

In the scope of this year’s visit by Slovenian companies included in the government’s economic delegation, GEN-I participated at the business-investment conference held in Teheran, where the company’s representatives met with Iranian partners. The visit was organized to coincide with the official visit of Slovenian President Borut Pahor to Iran. President Pahor was joined by the Minister for Economic Development and Technology, Mr. Zdravko Počivalšek, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Karl Erjavec and the General Director of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia, Mr. Samo Hribar Milič.

With the lifting of international sanctions against Iran, numerous opportunities are opening for Slovenian companies to strengthen cooperation in different areas. The most opportunities are opening right in the energy sector. “Slovenia is honored that Iran has chosen our small country for such an important transaction, with the accompanying business opportunities. I personally see this as a success for economic diplomacy,” said the President of GEN-I’s ManagementBoard, Robert Golob, Ph.D. about the opportunity to work with Iran. As the representatives of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia said, “the purpose of such a business visit is to promote and confirm energy and telecommunications projects that Slovenian companies have already agreed on with their Iranian partners, and to expand the number of Slovenian companies entering the Iranian market.”

GEN-I’s representatives included Igor Koprivnikar, Ph.D., a member of GEN-I’s ManagementBoard, who explained during the first meeting with the Iranian delegation, “We would like to use our knowledge to support Iran in the efficient sale of energy and in the optimization of electricity exchange flows. The project has been under development for some time. We are still in the initial phase and politics will play a key role going forward. We are therefore extremely pleased that the project will also include the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, from which we can expect State support for the prompt and successful achievement of planned objectives.”

The business cooperation that the GEN-I Group is planning to achieve would facilitate Iran’s access to Balkan and European electricity market. The value of cooperation in the initial phase of the project has been assessed at up EUR 10 million. Depending on the development of the transmission line infrastructure, the scope of cooperation could increase several fold over the long term.